Protein Cereal Bars

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5 from 97 votes
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Just one bowl and five minutes are needed to whip up these healthy chewy no bake protein cereal bars using just four ingredients! The perfect grab and go snack or sweet treat, these 4 ingredient no bake cereal bars are naturally gluten free, vegan and oil free! 

Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars- Super easy, healthy, homemade protein cereal bars with NO nasties at all! {vegan, gluten free, oil free recipe}- thebigmansworld.com


I seriously wish you could all see my apartment right now.

As of two weeks ago, I officially began recipe development and testing for my upcoming cookbook. After the initial excitement surrounding the book deal slowly died down, it finally hit me that content needed to be created….and with some haste. 

The first thing I did was buy a suitcase (and go online to pay for excess baggage) and stock up on some necessities from Amazon. As nice as it will be to be back in Australia for a little bit, I know I won’t have my favorites at my disposal, like this amazing cocoa powder and coconut flour at such a competitive price. Throw in the lack of peanut flour too and I may have reconsidered even going back home.

Just kidding. I’m craving some friend time, family time and mum’s cooking and washing.

I also REALLY want to have my core taste testers there to ensure every recipe is going to be delicious. 

Long term readers may remember last year, I was quite set on releasing an e-cookbook with original recipes never published on TBMW before. For the first few months, I made my friends try my recipes and give me feedback on them. Every week, I’d give them a handful of new, tested recipes to try and await their thoughts on it.

Since coming to America, I’ve lived between three states and while I’ve had some taste testers here and there- it’s been hard to find consistent ones. Granted, I’m STOKED to have had USPS at my disposal and some amazing blogging friends willing to be my guinea pigs, but when it comes down to something as important as a cookbook- I want the same people to taste the same recipes and give the same critique..

Delicious.

Zing. 

Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars- Super easy, healthy, homemade protein cereal bars with NO nasties at all! {vegan, gluten free, oil free recipe}- thebigmansworld.com

Anyway, amidst all the recipe testing, planning and of course, balancing the blog full time; I’ve needed to be well fueled. Last week, after finishing off my final few (frozen) 3 Ingredient no bake cereal bars, I wanted to whip up another batch.

However, I wanted to give them more staying power so I did just that….

Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars- Super easy, healthy, homemade protein cereal bars with NO nasties at all! {vegan, gluten free, oil free recipe}- thebigmansworld.com

But first- It’s Wednesday! Let’s check out my eats last LAST Thursday (last week was low carb and sad face), in which I caught up with a friend for lunch at the Cheesecake factory. We both went in with intentions to get our own salads AND cheesecake to share. 

You guys, the salads OWNED us. Seriously, they could have fed an army. Granted, after our salads came, my friend was jealous of the onion rings on top of my BBQ Chicken Cobb salad so we both got an order of that on the side…oops.

WIAW

Breakfast- Vanilla Cake Batter Oatmeal | Lunch- BBQ Chicken Cobb Salad with extra onion rings on the side/ Friend ate the Mexican Chicken Salad | Dinner- Local grill en route home- Basic grilled burger with chipotle aioli and pepper jack cheese. 

Now recipe time!

So as mentioned earlier in the post, after polishing off this batch of 3 ingredient no bake cereal bars, I wanted to make the same but with a protein punch. Similar to how I made these rice crispy treats with added protein powder, I did the same thing here- Simply added a scoop of protein powder (and some random chocolate chips for color) without changing any of the measurements and voila- Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars

Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars- Super easy, healthy, homemade protein cereal bars with NO nasties at all! {vegan, gluten free, oil free recipe}- thebigmansworld.com

These healthy 4 ingredient no bake protein cereal bars are ridiculously easy to whip up and the hard part is waiting for them to firm up- However, a simple blast in the freezer cuts down the time drastically! They are similar to rice crispy treats in terms of taste and texture but unlike the traditional inspiration, they contain NO butter, oil, margarine or marshmallows! Because of the debate regarding whether or not cheerios contain gluten, I opted to use (like before) this cereal which was pretty much the same thing. These no bake protein cereal bars are also gluten free, vegan and dairy free!

HACK! If you don’t follow a vegan lifestyle and/or can handle dairy well, I’d recommend using this casein protein powder for the recipe- It doesn’t have the overpowering vanilla taste and holds beautifully (as pictured!). 

Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars- Super easy, healthy, homemade protein cereal bars with NO nasties at all! {vegan, gluten free, oil free recipe}- thebigmansworld.com

Make these healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars and seriously-

Come to my apartment.

I need help packing.

MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM.

Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars- Super easy, healthy, homemade protein cereal bars with NO nasties at all! {vegan, gluten free, oil free recipe}- thebigmansworld.com


Healthy 4 Ingredient No Bake Protein Cereal Bars

5 from 97 votes
The perfect grab and go snack or sweet treat, these 4 ingredient no bake cereal bars are naturally gluten free, vegan and oil free!
Servings: 10

Ingredients  

  • 2 cups dry cereal I used Whole O’s- Cheerios would work if not strictly gluten free
  • 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
  • 1/2 cup smooth nut butter of choice I used peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup brown rice syrup can sub for honey or agave, but add 1 extra tablespoon
  • dairy free chocolate chips optional

Instructions 

  • Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, mix your cereal with your protein powder until combined.
  • In the microwave or stovetop, melt your nut butter with your sticky sweetener and then pour the mixture into the protein cereal mix and stir until fully combined.
  • Pour mixture into the lined baking tray and press firmly into place. Top with chocolate chips if desired and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up. Alternatively, freeze for 10-15 minutes.

Notes

Bars should be kept refrigerated for best texture.
Author: Arman Liew
Tried this recipe?Give us a shout at @thebigmansworld or tag #thebigmansworld!

Arman Liew

I’m a two time cookbook author, photographer, and writer, and passionate about creating easy and healthier recipes. I believe you don’t need to be experienced in the kitchen to make good food using simple ingredients that most importantly, taste delicious.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Love these. I don’t have much time for cooking and this is an easy/quick healthy snack. I use dark chocolate which really makes these yummy. Thanks.

  2. Love your recipes! Easy no bake vegan treats, finally! Just wondering if you have any nutritional breakdowns for the recipes e.g. calories per serve for this one? 🙂

    1. Thanks Daniella! For sure! If you go to myfitnspal and add the ingredients, it will give you a full breakdown! Enjoy!

  3. Oh these look delicious and reminded me of the cereal I used to eat when I was a little child – fruit loops 🙂

  4. I would love to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I think one thing why I don’t order salads at a restaurant here is because they are always so boring. And they defnitely never own you. Yet after this salad mountain I wouldn’t have been able to eat cheesecake. Time for the dessert take-away 😀

    I am horrible at packing. I just don’t have a system and so I play bloody tetris for forever. But I am the biggest worst procrasti-unpacker!

    1. Omg. Hi from LAX!!!!!

      I lost my jumper somewhere and the only stores here are GUCCI, BURBERRY AND FRED SEGAL. WTF!!!! I AM FREEZING

  5. I am actually a little unhealthily obsessed with the texture of these bars. Like, what is this beautiful caramel coating?!?! I wish I could sink my teeth into these right now haha.

  6. I don’t think it’s possible for me to go back to normal cocoa powder now, dark cocoa powder is a life-changer so I understand why you stoked up on that bae. I have a lonely box of cheerios sitting in my pantry from a few months ago just waiting to be eaten. So I think These cereal bars are happening soon plus maybe i’ll add some dark cocoa powder too bc the obsession continues <3

    1. Haha love it.

      I’m scared they might take it out of my suitcase…maybe I should have hid it under my towels.

  7. After last week’s success with the 3 ingredient brownies…I need to try more of your recipes! Add this one to the list!

  8. In middle school, I was a hardcore fan of Honey Nut Cheerios and Fruity Cheerios! But I like Love Grown Foods’ Power O’s as a substitute 🙂 anyways, I love that you’ve made such a healthy recipe with this cereal! The bars look so gooey and delicious! And I’ve been owned by plenty of salads before–wayyyyy too many for me to be able to count!

  9. These look really tasty Arman! Did you know that the General Mills Cheerios are all gluten free now? (I’m not sure if the chocolate are, but the rest are!!!) We were SO excited about that!

    1. Hi Emily! That’s correct, although some gluten free folk are still a little suspicious so I used a brand which is strictly GF 🙂